Talk of the Town: GBVs just one of the new technologies farmers can support

Sitting in the passenger seat of the Triton of my colleague Ben Harden from Emerald to Clermont two weeks ago, it was lovely to look out the window and spot paddocks full of feed as far as your eye could see.

If it wasn't pastures than it was sorghum crops or cotton bales filling the horizon.

At the Emerald saleyards plenty of people were willing to jump in a photo with their stock.

They admitted prices weren't where they were a year ago, but it was balanced out at the thought of the profits Mother Nature was delivering.

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During the trip we visited the property of Alice and Darren Marks, which was overflowing with stories of research and innovation.

Something that Alice said really struck a chord with me.

"I think a lot of us in the industry suffer from that...we don't want to compare just for that fear of failure," she said.

She was speaking about the resistance to genomic breeding values.

Unlike the southern states, the majority of Queensland producers are a little more cautious when it comes to genetic data.

Phenotype selection has been engrained in them from their younger years, including Alice's husband Darren.

For some of them, the resistance also comes from the fact the breeding values aren't reflective of their herds and environmental conditions; instead they feel more reflective of southern operations.

Others lose faith in the data when it doesn't provide the result they believed it should or they aren't willing to risk the thought of such a situation.

Or is it because it's not tangible? Farmers question spending $40 on a test they can't see but will spend the same money on a leather halter they can hold in their hands.

Producers at Rabobank's Farm to Fork event in Sydney recently were told, "Don't farm today like you did yesterday just because that's what you've always done".

I'm sure my grandfather never could have imagined the changes that his son and grandchildren would have implemented on our beef property.

Advancements in animal health mean we can now provide pain relief when branding calves and predict the horn status of a calf based off its parents.

My grandfather didn't rotationally graze paddocks and only believed in fattening bullocks, none of this trading business.

I'm sure he is proud of the changes now he can see their benefits, but if the next generation wasn't willing to take a risk and overcome the fear of failure, would our operation have moved forward?

Unfortunately change is inevitable with everything. It's daunting and risky but it's also incredibly exciting.

If you sit down and chat to Alice Marks, her passion and enthusiasm for the topic of genetics rubs off on you very quickly. Genomic breeding values might not be for everyone, but how will we know if nobody tries?

With so much positivity in the agriculture industry now is the perfect time to support advancements in new technology.

Before you toss it to the side for being too modern or futuristic, think about how far your herd has already come in terms of adaptation.

Surely the fear of missing out outweighs the fear of failure?

- Talk of the Town is a weekly opinion piece written by ACM journalists. The thoughts expressed are their own.